What's the point of planning a perfect retirement with lots of money, a great and increasing income, yet little to do? That's one of the major issues facing people who manage to reach their "golden years".
I speak to many top executives who retire with great fanfare, go on six-week round-the-world trips and then ... nothing.
"I've painted the house twice, mowed the lawn until it's perfect, seen every soapie on TV and now I'm bored," is the refrain from many a recent retiree.
Also, suddenly being in the house and in the kitchen, which used to be the domain of the spouse, can add great stress to many couples' relationships.
Executives, particularly, seem to have great difficulty relinquishing their erstwhile power-base and transferring this to the house or kitchen.
When you plan your retirement, you also need to look at the non-financial aspects.
In a recent book called New Passages, author Gail Sheehy talks about the concept of a Second Adulthood.
She calls it the "revolution in life cycles" currently taking place in the United States and forecasts that it will soon reverberate across all western societies.
This phase of life, which stretches from about 45 to 85, is characterised by vast social changes. In South Africa we refer to people in this phase of life as the "empty nesters", a term dreamt up by some clever marketing person to sell certain types of property.
But this perhaps flippant description belies the profound social impact this phenomenon is having. Forget about the stereotype image of mom and pop sitting on the stoep waiting for the children and grandchildren to come and visit.
This stage of life can be one of the most rewarding and fulfilling stages of your life, or the most depressing, depending on how you approach it.
In the United States, for instance, I learnt this week, there is the University of the Third Age, which has 48 000 pensioners as students, taking a variety of graduate and post-graduate courses.
With retirement lasting anything up to 20 years, you must realise that you will have to prepare for that phase of life, just as you prepared for a professional or parenting career.
Hobbies and sport are vital for your well-being and self-esteem.
People are now participating in a variety of sports to ages hitherto unknown. While there are not many octogenarian rugby players, you can play bowls, golf and even tennis well into your eighties.
I have come across many people who have successfully started new businesses after they have retired. One of the most famous ones was Colonel Saunders of Kentucky Fried Chicken-fame who started his first chicken outlet at the age of 65.
However, one must immediately warn against starting a business which could put your retirement capital at risk. I have also come across a couple of horror stories relating how people lost their government retrenchment packages in failed ventures.
Be very careful and get good advice before you venture into unknown territory.
Currently, favourite businesses are coffee shops, restaurants and guest houses, mostly based in the Cape.
It is important for people to realise that retirement is just another stage in one's life. People are living longer and you are likely to spend a great deal of time in retirement. Realise this and plan for it. Don't wait until a week before you retire to start thinking about what you are going to do.
If you don't do some planning, the chances are that you will have great difficulty adjusting to that new stage in your life.